1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to engines and, more specifically, to an oscillating two-stroke internal combustion engine having a shaft with two opposing vanes as the oscillating member.
2. Description of Related Art
As an alternative to conventional internal combustion piston engines, oscillating internal combustion engines have been proposed. Such devices are well known in the art as evidenced by the U.S. Patents to Folsom, U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,475; Tan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,532; Meuret, U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,976; Dettwiler, U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,253; Sakita, U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,254; Crawford, U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,414; Seno, U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,732; and Meuret, U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,976. Also of interest is the British Patent, Number 619,995 to Triani and the German Patent, Number 2,639,450, to Theilen. The patents to Tan et al., discloses a swinging-piston engine having a crank and connecting rod mechanism in which the piston swings around a fixed shaft and sweeps the combustion cylinders. The Dettwiler patent discloses an internal combustion engine having a rotor mounted in a circular casing, a pair of radial partitions fixed in the casing to define two chambers, and pistons radially fixed to the rotor such that the pistons oscillate in their chambers. The patent to Sakita describes an internal combustion engine having a pair of pistons connected to an oscillating shaft and means for converting the oscillating motion of the shaft to rotary motion. The patent to Crawford discloses a valveless two-stroke engine having a fan-shaped combustion chamber, wherein the moving element is not a piston, but is a pivoted divider oscillating within the combustion chamber. The German patent to Theilen discloses an oscillating piston-type engine having diametrically opposite pistons connected to a hub and camshafts for actuating inlet and outlet valves in succession. The Meuret patent describes a rotary piston engine having a dual piston shaped as a semicircular vane mounted about a rotating shaft going through the center of a spherical chamber, and including external means for converting the reciprocating rotation of the piston into a continuous rotation. The patent to Seno discloses a four stroke concentric oscillating rotary vane engine including a stator, a rotor, four arcuate combustion chambers, a pair of forced porting mechanisms for controlling the forced porting of air into the combustion chamber, and a pair of cranking mechanisms for controlling the oscillating rotary motion of the rotor. The Folsom patent describes a drive system using an oscillating rotor engine of the internal combustion type in which the output of the oscillating shaft is converted directly into usable energy without the necessity of a crank converter. The British patent to Triani discloses a two-stroke internal combustion engine in which combustion gases act on at least two pairs of vanes that can oscillate within a cylinder coaxial with the main shaft and revolve in opposite directions to each other, such as to impart a continuous rotary motion to the main shaft by means of clutches.
However, none of the prior art devices includes an oscillating element having a hollow shaft with air intake ports disposed between the outwardly extending vanes through which air is forced into the combustion chamber for mixing with fuel and expelling exhaust therefrom during periods when the ports are not closed of by the stator walls. Nor do any of the prior art devices propose the use of a magnetic coupling or a ratchet to convert the oscillating motion of the engine into rotational motion. Nor do any of the prior art devices propose affixing permanent magnets to the output shaft of the engine and surrounding them with wire coils wherein the oscillating mechanical motion of the permanent magnet induces an alternating current in the coils as a means to convert the oscillating motion of the engine into a useable form of energy.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.